Pawns Chess

Not to be confused with
"The Pawn's Game"
(a.k.a. Legal's Game),
where white gets 8 extra pawns instead of a Queen).

This game was inspired by a chess set where all the pawns were
represented by unique individualized pieces. My thought was that it
would be interesting to have each pawn be unique in terms of its
abilities. For balance, I decided not to try to have pawns be unique
across both sides of the board, just for one side. I also rejected
giving each piece a unique ability, so that no two pieces would be the
same (although that also might be an interesting variant).

So, one approach would be to give each pawn a variant of the
standard pawn move. One pawn might be a Berolina pawn, another a
slightly different variation, etc. While this might make an interesting
variant, it wasn't what I had in mind. I wanted each pawn to have a
somewhat more unusual ability. The difficulty was in coming up with
abilities that were interesting, yet didn't make the pawns as (or more)
valuable than the rest of the chess pieces. The pawn should still be
more expendable than the other pieces.

In any case, here is what I've come up with. As usual, it hasn't
been play tested, although if anyone would like to play a game I'm
always willing. I'd even be open for a "You help playtest my game,
I'll help playtest your game" deal.

The Pawns

All pawns retain their orthodox chess movement, capturing and promotion
abilities unless stated otherwise. Each pawn has its own unique
abilities as specified below.

The Heroic Pawn

Hero (Ph): May make a sacrifice capture. This capturing move must be
a Queen or Knight move. The Hero is removed from the board after making
the capture. The Hero may promote to a King, but only if the promotion
occurs while the existing King is in check or checkmate. When the Hero
promotes to King, the existing King is removed from its current
position and replaces the promoted Hero.

If at the end of a player's turn the Hero is in a position where it
could capture the opposing King with a "heroic" capture, the owning
player must decide whether the Hero will threaten check via a sacrifice
("heroic check"). If yes, then the Hero is removed after the opposing
player has escaped check. If not, then the Hero is not threatening
check and may remain after the opposing player's move.

A player may not move their King into "heroic check".

The Berserker Pawn

Berserker (Pb): Makes a sequence of captures in one move. After the
capture, if there is another capture that can be made from the
Berserker's new position, then that capture must be made. This
continues until the Berserker captures into a position where there is
no piece available to be captured. The Berserker captures friendly as
well as enemy pieces. If the Berserker has the opportunity to capture
an enemy piece, it must do so.

Note the Berserker is not (on the first capture) required to capture
friendly pieces. It is only on the 2nd and subsequent captures (called
"berserker captures") that the Berserker is required to capture, even
if the capture is a friendly piece. Note that if a Berserker is in a
position where more than one capture is possible, it is the owning
player's choice which capture is made.

If the Berserker promotes as the result of a berserker capture, it
must promote to a Berserker Knight, which must then continue berserker
captures if possible.

Note that it is possible that the Berserker could be forced to
capture its own King. This of course results in an especially
disgraceful loss for the player who killed their own King!

The Spying Pawn

Spy (Ps): The Spy is invisible to enemy pieces until it makes a
capture or threatens check. From that point on the spy functions as a
orthodox chess pawn. When invisible, this piece does not block enemy
pieces (they move over it as if it were not there). It does however
block friendly pieces. If an enemy piece moves into the same square as
the Spy, then the spy is moved to any empty adjacent square (the player
owning the Spy chooses). If there are no empty adjacent squares, then
the Spy is considered captured. The adjacent empty square may *not* be
a promotion square.

Since the Spy is sneaky, and should be able to sneak around enemy
pieces, it moves and captures as a Berolina pawn instead of as a usual
chess pawn. A Berolina pawn moves (non-capturing) one square forward
diagonally, and captures one square forward orthogonally (i.e. the
square directly in front of it). Once the Spy is "discovered" it moves
as a orthodox chess pawn.

The Healing Pawn

Healer (Pe): Any friendly piece captured in a square that is
adjacent to the Healer may be healed and placed into an empty square
(adjacent to the Healer) on the player's next turn. This counts as the
player's move. A healed pawn may not be placed into a promotion square.
Note that the Healer cannot heal two turns in a row. The King may not
be healed (i.e. the King is not immune to check when it is adjacent to
the Healer). The Hero may not be healed after making its sacrifice
capture.

The Mercenary Pawn

The Horseman Pawn

Horseman (Pr): May make Knight moves (non-capturing), but in the
forward direction only. May only promote to a Knight.

The Guard Pawn

Guard (Pg): May capture into any diagonally adjacent square. May
move (non-capturing) one square orthogonally. Guards do not promote.
When the Guard is in a home square (i.e. any square in the owning
player's first two rows), it moves and captures like a King.

The Archer Pawn

Archer (Pa): May capture a piece that is two squares away directly
forward from the Archer. The Archer remains in its square (i.e. does
not physically move). This move is not blocked by any intervening
piece.

Eight different pawns each with own capability, supposedly based on f.i.d.e. Ortho-pawn; but once the alterations start, that basis does not really hold to generality anymore. They just become eight different Pawn-types each one unique.